Valentine’s Day Dinner!
Everybody, I am pleased to announce that Fossil, the clothing and watch company, has posted my recipe for Parsnip Gnocchi with Chanterelle mushrooms and beurre blanc sauce, along with many other crafty creations, to their Valentine’s Day section on their own blog! You can find everything on their Fossil.Life.Style page. Please enjoy and have a great Valentine’s Day, on the 14th!
So, here are the step-by-step instructions to make Parsnip Gnocchi with Chanterelle mushrooms, beurre blanc sauce and truffle oil, but please visit the link and check out some of the other great things other bloggers have done for Valentine’s Day!
Note: The parsnip gnocchi is much more labor intensive than simple potato gnocchi - feel free to substitute 2 lbs potatoes for parsnips. 
I encourage everybody to read the recipe over entirely before starting to cook.
Firstly, get your mise en place ready:
What you need:
Fresh or dehydrated Chanterelle mushrooms (I used D’artagnan)
White truffle oil (optional)
Fresh thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Kosher salt
Coarse sea salt
Freshly cracked pepper
8 oz Mushroom stock, vegetable stock or 1 tsp Mushroom bouillon for 8 oz hot water.
Gnocchi (will render nearly 1 quart of gnocchi - 4+ servings)
About 3 lbs of parsnips
About 1.5 cups Tipo “00” flour or AP flour
About 3 large egg yolks
salt to taste
Sauce (serves 2)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
1 large or 2 small shallots
3 garlic cloves
2 sticks of butter (keep refrigerated)
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Peel your parsnips, pick about 1/4 cup of thyme, brunoise your garlic/shallots (about 1/16” dices) and fill about 8 fluid oz of boiling water in a container to allow your dehydrated mushrooms (if using) at least 30 minutes to reconstitute (save the mushroom water). Also, precut your two sticks of butter into 1/2” pieces and reserve in the refrigerator until later.
Place the parsnips on a cookie sheet and roast for about an hour, or until cooked through. Split down the middle and, while still hot, using a fork or spoon, scrape the “meat” away from the skin. It may be difficult because of the carrot-like texture of parsnips. Stab and drag a fork over the meat to loosen it, then scrape and separate.
After the parsnip is removed from the oven, you can put a pot of salted water on the stove. Bring to a rolling boil.
Place the parsnip on a clean countertop and create a well in the center. Add 1/2 cup “00” flour, the three eggs and whisk with a fork, gently incorporating the eggs and flour together, first, before pulling in the parsnip. Have the remaining flour handy on the side, as you’ll easily need about another 1/2 cup after you begin to incorporate the parsnip. Continue to add the flour until you reach the proper consistency. You want to have a nice, rich dough that isn’t very sticky and holds together. Be sure not to overwork the dough when mixing - you don’t want to activate the gluten in the flour.
Using a dough-cutter, divide the dough into quarters and, on a lightly floured work surface, begin to roll the dough into a snake with both hands. About 1/2” thich. With the dough-cutter, cut the gnocchi at about 1/2” intervals, so they’re nearly as wide as thick. Place the gnocchi on a sheet pan to dry for a bit. Add to the boiling water. The gnocchi will be finished when they float!
When the gnocchi floats, have a pot of ice water ready to stop the cooking process. Using a perforated spoon or a spider, place the pasta in the ice water. Many feel that this washes off the starch, along with much of the flavor, so, if you have the time, scoop the gnocchi out of the water and place on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator to cool, rather than shocking it in the ice water bath.
Now that the Gnocchi is finished, you can leave it alone on the side, while you prepare your sauce.
Remove the reconstituted mushrooms from the water and pour about 8 oz of the water into a small pan or pot. Bring to medium simmer and add the teaspoon of mushroom bouillon. Dissolve the bouillon and reserve on the side.
Take the 1/4 cup white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of white wine and combine them with the brunoised shallots and garlic. Add several branches of thyme. Bring to a boil and allow the liquid to reduce 80%, or until the pan is nearly dry. Then add the mushroom stock you made with the mushroom water and bouillon - about 1/2 cup of stock. Typically you wouldn’t add any stock to a beurre blanc sauce, but I feel that the addition brings a depth to the sauce that the dish would lack without it. Allow to reduce 80%, or until nearly dry, and begin to add the butter. You want to add the butter one to two pieces at a time, whisking constantly, only incorporating another piece of butter until the last has nearly finished melting. The object is to melt the butter and allow it to emulsify, creating a thick, creamy sauce. If the sauce begins to look oily that means that it’s beginning to break. Remove it from the heat immediately and quickly whisk until it reforms. You want to keep the beurre blanc warm - if it’s too hot it’ll break, as will it break when it cools too much. For a purer sauce, you can pass it through a china cap or medium strainer, to remove the shallot, garlic and thyme, after all of the butter has been incorporated.
While the wine and vinegar is reducing for the beurre blanc sauce, take the mushrooms and sauté them with olive oil, rosemary and thyme branches. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook thoroughly. When you add the mushroom stock into the beurre blanc sauce add about 1/4 cup of white wine to the mushrooms, allow the temperature to remain at a medium heat and reduce until all the wine is gone. All of these subtleties are what really deliver the flavor punch.
When you strain the beurre blanc sauce, the mushrooms should be dry. Add them to the sauce and gently whisk, ensuring that the sauce doesn’t break. Remove about a pint of gnocchi from the ice bath, or enough for two, and toss it into the sauce. You’re basically just heating the gnocchi up for service.
Get yourself a spoon to help plate and spoon out an equal portion on each plate. Garnish with the freshly picked thyme leaves, coarse sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. If you’d like to add the white truffle oil remember - a little goes a long way. You want to make sure you have control of the drizzle because it will either make the dish great or completely ruin it, wasting about 2 hours of your life. It’s not necessary, but I think it brings another excellent element to the table.
And Voila! You have a romantic, home-made dinner for two. Be certain to taste everything you make before you serve it. Try the gnocchi with mushrooms and beurre blanc while they’re still warming up - does it need more salt? Pepper? The most common problem with food tasting dull is simply under-seasoning. A little Kosher salt goes a long way. If i tastes good to you, more than likely your partner will love it, too.
